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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25502656">A Restless Night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bisexual_Bean/pseuds/Bisexual_Bean'>Bisexual_Bean</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, JASON TODD DESERVES LOVE DAMNIT, Jason Todd Gets A Hug, Jason Todd Has Issues, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Protective Bruce Wayne, Willis Todd's A+ Parenting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:40:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,749</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25502656</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bisexual_Bean/pseuds/Bisexual_Bean</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It took him a little longer than it should have  to realize he was in a white room. White walls. White floors. White ceiling. No cracks or edges. Jason could most likely take off in any direction and walk for miles within the white void before actually running into anything.<br/>But hey, he lives in Gotham. He's seen and been trapped in weirder shit on his average Tuesday.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jason Todd &amp; Bruce Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>238</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Restless Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jason could taste the smoke on his lips.</p><p>He doesn't remember lighting a cigarette, or why, speaking as he's actually been trying to quit due to Alfred's insistent mother-henning, but he takes his time enjoying each deep intake of nicotine and the taste of left over chemicals rolling over his tongue on each exhale.</p><p>It took him a little longer than it should have  to realize he was in a white room. White walls. White floors. White ceiling. No cracks or edges. Jason could most likely take off in any direction and walk for miles within the white void before actually running into anything.</p><p>But hey, he lives in Gotham. He's seen and been trapped in weirder shit on his average Tuesday.</p><p>Blunt nails drum against the seat under him. The echoing sound of polished wood its own melody to his ears.</p><p>"Jason."</p><p>Teal eyes glanced up. He was no longer alone within the white expansion. Now Batman stood a few yards away, the white lenses of the cowl staring back. He was in one of his older suits, something surprising in its own right, but the greys and blacks still stood out against the bleached back drop.</p><p>Jason didn't speak. He definitely thought about opening his mouth, snapping at the man in front of him, but the words caught in his throat.</p><p>Batman's head tilted to the side, the corners of his lips tilting downward ever so slightly.</p><p>Bruce had always been good at hiding his emotions behind the cowl, behind the strong-willed persona of Batman. Jason remembers it irking him to no ends when he first started out as Robin, and had made it his own personal mission to break through Batman's cold exterior and show the human underneath.</p><p>Dick would say he succeeded. Had been the only Robin to the name able to make Batman smile on patrol, laugh while they took a small break with ice cream, joke as they hopped between buildings. But this Batman was non of those. He wasn't even his normal stoic self that took over ever since the Replacement came into the picture. What little he actually could make out of his features looked heart broken.</p><p>Wounded.</p><p>Mournful.</p><p>Batman took a step forward and Jason instantly tried to jerk back, to escape the oncoming approach, only to find himself locked in place. He simply sat and continued smoking.</p><p>Inhale.</p><p>Exhale.</p><p>Jason itched to tense up when Batman wrapped his arms around him. Wanted to scream and punch the taller man in the jaw for even touching him. But his body easily complied to Batman's embrace, and his cigarette slipped from limb fingers to the ground below.</p><p>He went along numbly as Batman buried his face in Jason's shoulder, one hand burying itself in his hair, the other gripping the back of his jacket like he would disappear otherwise.</p><p>Or was it his cape?</p><p>The familiar yellow fluttered around his sides and Jason immediately felt smaller. Weaker. Younger.</p><p>Inside he was screaming. This was wrong. Something was wrong. Batman shouldn't be crying right now. Shouldn't be holding a Robin who died years ago close to his chest.</p><p>But Jason's body remained compliant as Batman scooped him up, nose tucked against the crown of his head and a kiss pressed against his temple. He wanted to puke when his head rolled to the side and he finally noticed what he had been sitting on.</p><p>A coffin.</p><p>A fucking coffin.</p><p>A beautifully polished coffin, now open and awaiting a body with a stiff pillow that could (and would) easily be torn to shreds.</p><p>Jason was screaming. He knew he was. But his voice was not heard, didn't even manage to make it passed his own thoughts. He wanted to fight, to beg Batman not to put him down. He wanted to be anywhere else besides this white room with Batman holding him and a coffin waiting for him below.</p><p>He could still smell the smoke from his cigarette, the scent soaking into the walls, clouding the room, sparks of ash drifting upwards towards a ceiling that didn't actually exist.</p><p>He watched helplessly as Batman laid his body down, carefully arranging the Robin cape around him, ran a hand through his hair just like he would when they got home from patrol every night.</p><p>Then suddenly it was Bruce in front of him. Black suit on and tears running down his face and though Jason couldn't see he could so clearly hear Dick's desperate sobs behind Bruce's towering form.</p><p>Jason had been stuffed into his own suit, a silky red tie smoothed over his chest. Perfectly aligned just like Alfred would have done it.</p><p>Bruce stood straight, one hand caressing Jason's cheek, thumb tracing over the skin just under Jason's closed eyes before forcibly pulling himself away.</p><p>Just as the cover was closing, darkness creeping in on the edges of his vision, did Jason finally manage to move his limbs. He reached forward, desperate to feel Bruce's warm and protective embrace. Begging to feel a hand running through his hair or caressing his cheek.</p><p>"Dad!" He screamed, his voice finally working, and he managed to catch a frightful look on his fathers face before the lid locked him inside.</p><p>
  <em> Its ok. Bruce saw that you were alive. He's going to open the lid back up any second. </em>
</p><p>But the lid never opened.</p><p>And Jason felt his panic begin to rise. His throat tightening as the realization that he was trapped hit him.</p><p>His hand slapped against the top of the coffin, managing to shake it. An earthy smell drifted in from the cracks and he gagged.</p><p>
  <em> Please. Please no. Not again. I can't. Not again! </em>
</p><p>Jason screamed. He desperately clawed at the lip, scratching away at the fabric until he hit wood then just continued in a frenzy.</p><p>He couldn't make out anything in the pitch darkness. But he could feel his nails chip and break off, taste the blood from his broken hands as it dripped onto his face, smell the dirt and wet grass that assaulted his nostrils.</p><p>Soil poured into the coffin through the holes in the roof. He could just catch a glimpse of light through the mud-</p><p>And just as quickly as freedom was in his grasp, it vanished. Instead of pulling himself out of a splintery pit, he was tugging at chains attached to his wrists, dangling above his head.</p><p>Without being able to see his surroundings he couldnt tell much of where he was. But he was quite familiar with the sharp sting of shackles digging into his skin, and the painful cramping of his knees from being forced to kneel to long.</p><p>Several minutes passed in complete darkness, Jason's chest heaving and his heart pounding as he tried to gain control of himself again. After all he didnt know if anyone was watching and if he learned one thing from Batman it was to never show weakness to the enemy.</p><p>Just when he managed to get his breathing under control did a spotlight from no where shine down on him from above, and although he knew he wouldnt be able to, Jason attempted to move his hand to sheild his eyes from the bright light.</p><p>A ghostly laugh echoed from beyond the light and Jason couldnt hold back a whimper. His jacket provided zero protection, but everything in him was telling screaming to hide in it anyways.</p><p>"Looks llike I got a little birdy trapped hm?" The voice -<em>his</em> voice- mocked. Jason bit his lip so hard he tasted blood, then glanced around him to try and gain his barrings.</p><p>He was in a bird cage. Hovering above what looked to be hundreds, if not thousands, of dead bodies.</p><p>Of <em>his</em> dead body. Of Robins broken and beaten, torn to pieces and exploded, yellow capes chard and uniforms mutilated beyond recognition.</p><p>The voice laughed and the light shinning on him shuddered slightly with the movement.</p><p>Jason wanted to cry.</p><p>Instead he pulled at his restraints, struggling to stand despite the cage giving him no room to.</p><p>His breathing came out in short harsh gasps, forcing its way passed his lips.</p><p>"Come now little birdy. The show is just about to begin!" The light stayed, but a man walked out to the floor in front of him, paying no mind to the bones crunching and breaking under his feet along the way.</p><p>Cold eyes stared at him as the man drew closer. A too-wide smile happily grinned.</p><p>But it wasnt the Joker.</p><p>No.</p><p>It was Willis Todd.</p><p>Jason's lungs seized up in his chest, pulse hammering away against the chilled metal pressed to his wrists.</p><p>Because if there was one person who terrified him more than the Joker, who had <em>killed</em> him, who could make him regret every dicision hes ever made that made him end up at this very point, it was the man in front of him.</p><p>Despite the Jokers booming laugh and wide grin, the eyes staring him down held the same fury and disappointment as his fathers gaze always did when looking at Jason. The same demeaning stance that always seemed to ask him: <em>Why do you exist?</em></p><p>Jason wasn't small like he used to be. Wasn't some street rat desperate to survive on the streets. Wasn't Robin safely tucked under Batmans careful watch. He was the Red Hood. He could take on Batman hand to hand. Was trained by the League of Assasins. He's <em>died</em> and <em>come back to life</em> for fucks sake!</p><p>But just one look from the man in front of him made him desperate to shrink away, make him wish he could shrivel up into nothing.</p><p>"Jason. Peter. Todd." A giggle after each word. The man shifted, and an ankle of one dead Jason snapped under the sudden weight. "Don't you know it's rude not to look at your father when he's speaking to you?"</p><p>His hands trembled so badly the chains rattled against eachother. Each breath set his chest ablaze and his eyes burned with unshed tears. Only after forcing another difficult puff of air passed his lung did he glance at Willis.</p><p>A hand shot through the bars and gripped his chin in a tight grasp. Nails dug into the sides of his jaw and Jason instantly tried to pull away only to have another yank his hair closer to the bars. The rough force pulled at his wrists so hard he felt his left shoulder pop out of its socket.</p><p>Jason held back a scream, knowing it would only anger the older man more. The neighbors could never find out what was happening. Jason knew Willis would rather kill him than let some strangers take a member of his family away from him. </p><p>Another giggle. Jason flinched. Sweat coated his brow. He could taste salt on his lips.</p><p>"P-Please...Dad..."</p><p>
  <em> Slap </em>
</p><p>Jason's head snapped to the side, eyes wide as he stared off into the inky darkness with tears in his eyes.</p><p>"Don't talk back to your father young man!"</p><p>Jason bit the inside of his cheek to quiet his sobs, beginning to turn back to Willis before something caught his eye.</p><p>From inside the ink he saw Batman, white lenses piercing into him.</p><p>"B..." He swallowed the blood that was in his mouth.</p><p>"Bruce!" The name scratched at the inside of his throat. He thrashed, desperatly trying to escape Willis' hold. Bruce was here. Bruce would save him. He wouldnt let this man hurt him anymore.</p><p>"Bruce! Please!" Jason was sobbing, unable to hold back his tears any longer. His shoulders screamed in agony, the skin of his wrists was in tathers from jerking and pulling. But Bruce would heal him, fix him right up! He just had to get out of here.</p><p>Batman paid the bodies on the ground no attention, only staring straight farward at Jason. Over the mans shoulder Jason could make out the shadows of Dick, Tim, and Damian.</p><p>All watching.</p><p>Willis twisted his injured arm, making Jason gasp and fall back, only adding more weight to his bloodied wrists.</p><p>Bruce would help him.</p><p>There was a searing pain in his side. His ribs were on fire.</p><p>Bruce would fix him.</p><p>Willis was shouting and laughing at the same time. Jason didnt know which one he should he focusing on.</p><p>Bruce would save him.</p><p>A belt struck his back and made him jerk forward, the bars of the cage feeling cold against his forhead but the chill could not be welcomed.</p><p>Bruce would protect him.</p><p>Burning flesh drifted up into the air, but no matter how hard he tried he couldnt pull away from the red hot buds being put out on his skin</p><p>Bruce would love him.</p><p>He flinched when a needle pressed into his arm, "Just like his mother," He heard Willis giggle. Jasons body grew heavy as he slumped forward.</p><p>Bruce would...</p><p>He choked on glass. Willis only pressed the bottle further into his mouth, uncaring of his sons struggles.</p><p>Bruce would...</p><p>The Joker laughed. Willis snickered, "Drink up champ! Got a few customers coming by and they like 'em compliant!"</p><p>Bruce...</p><p>Hands touching him. They weren't Willis' or the Jokers', but hands appeared from the darkness, smoothing over his skin, pulling at his clothes.</p><p>Bruce...</p><p>Batman straightened as Nightwing stepped farward, whispering something into his ear. With a curt nod he turned, walking through the others stepping out of his way. He was leaving.</p><p>Bruce was leaving him.</p><p>"Jason!"</p><p>Jason tried to curl inwards, pressing his forhead to his knees. His shoulders screamed at him but he could care less.</p><p>"Jason!"</p><p>He shook his head. He wanted to be left alone.</p><p>"Jason please!"</p><p>Hands no longer touched him. Willis' cold, chilling eyes and the Jokers echoing laugh vanished into the background of Jasons thoughts.</p><p>"Jason!"</p><p>A hand gripped his arm.</p><p>His eyes flashed open so fast the lights above blinded his sight. He tried to pull away, to escape, only to find something holding his wrists down. Chains. He couldnt escape. He needed to escape!</p><p>The chains squeezed his wrists. There was a voice speaking to him but he didnt want to hear it. Didn't want to hear any more of Willis' tainted words.</p><p>"Stop! Stop! Please stop!" Jason was crying. Tears streamed down his face but he couldn't stop them despite knowing how much Willis hated seeing them. The chains holding his wrists squeezed harder before his hand was pressed against a hard chest.</p><p>Jason was gasping for breath, lungs aching with each inhale but begging for more with each exhale.</p><p>"Breath with me Jason."</p><p>He tried. He tried so hard. But it seemed to take far to long for his desperate gasps turned into anything resembling a solid breath.</p><p>"There you go. Nice and slow, good job Jason."</p><p>Jason's vision managed to clear a bit after a few more deep breaths, noticing he was inside of the guest bedroom he normally stayed in when spending the night at the manor. Bruce sat in front of him, deep blue eyes coated in concern, with Dick a steady weight at his side. Eyes flicking nervously around the room, he caught sight of Tim and Damian hovering just over Bruces shoulder, Alfred lingered near the door.</p><p>Bruce waited patiently until Jason's eyes landed on him again, calloused hands giving a small squeeze to his own.</p><p>"Are you okay Jason? You were screaming."</p><p>Jason trembled. He couldnt help it. His nightmare seemed to drain him of any remaining energy he had as he willingly slumped farward into Bruces chest. Dick managed to catch some of his weight so he didnt knock Bruce over, settling Jasons shoulder against his chest while his forhead rested on Bruces collar bone.</p><p>Bruce instinctually wrapped an arm around him, hand resting on the back of his neck. Dick took a more forward approach and wrapped him in a hug, one arm rubbing circles into his back and the other pushing his sweat soaked bangs from his forhead.</p><p>"D..." His voice was rough when he tried to speak, eyelids heavy as sleep tugged at him again, "Don't leave..."</p><p>Bruce tensed under the words before relaxing again, the thumb of his free hand stroking the inside of Jasons wrist, obviously keeping track of his heart rate.</p><p>"I won't. I'll be right here when you wake up."</p><p>Bruce was here.</p><p>Bruce would protect him.</p><p>Jason sighed, leaning into the two embraces and drifted off back to sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, this is my first published story with the Bat Family! Its definitely a little rough around the edges, but let me know in the comments if you found any errors I missed!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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